China on June 22 mobilised up to 137 ships, including five military
ships, to protect its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 that is illegally
standing in Vietnam ’s waters, according to the Vietnam Fisheries
Surveillance Department.

The Chinese side continues violently defending its oil rig that is illegally standing in Vietnam's waters.

At 06:40 and 08:13, Vietnam’s law
enforcement forces at sea also detected two Chinese reconnaissance
aircraft operating at an altitude of 1,000m-2,000m in the west –
southwest and the south – southwest areas, about 12-13 nautical miles
from the position that China illegally places its drilling rig.

Chinese
ships constantly followed close behind and obstructed law enforcement
operations of Vietnamese fisheries surveillance authorities. Sometimes,
Chinese ships were only 30m from Vietnamese vessels.

Meanwhile,
the Vietnamese fisheries surveillance vessels still retained their
operation about 10 – 12 nautical miles from the rig and conducted
communication actions requesting the Chinese side to withdraw the rig
and escort ships out of Vietnam’s waters.

The same day,
about 54 Chinese fishing ships, supported by coast guard ship coded
46102, formed a line to violently block Vietnamese fishing boats from
operating in their traditional fishing grounds, about 35-40 nautical
miles from the rig.

However, the Chinese aggression could not
stop Vietnamese fishermen from conducting their usual catching
activities in Vietnam ’s waters.

At the beginning of May
2014, China illegally dispatched the rig as well as a large fleet of
armed vessels, military ships and aircraft to Vietnam’s waters and
positioned the rig at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude
and 111 degrees 12 minutes 06 seconds east longitude, 80 miles deep into
Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

China’s armed vessels have aggressively and consistently fired
high-power water cannons at and intentionally rammed against Vietnamese
public-service and civil ships, causing damage to many boats and
injuring many people on board.